Vacuumized container for a parachute

ABSTRACT

Vacuumized package includes a parachute with a main body. A connector extends from the inside to the outside of the package while still maintaining the vacuum therein. A strap from the parachute is connected to one end of the connector inside of the package while the other end includes means outside of the package adapted to be connected to a strap or harness to be worn by a pilot.

United States Patent [1 1 Grasso et al.

[451 Jan. 23, 1973 VACUUMIZED CONTAINER FOR A PARACHUTE [75] Inventors: Vito A. Grasso, Franklinville, N.J.; Michael S. Frankel, Cheltenham, Pa,

[73] Assignee: The Budd Company, Philadelphia,

[22] Filed: March 1, 1971 [2]] -Appl. No.: 119,766

[52] U.S. Cl. ..244/l48, 206/78 B [51] Int. Cl. ..B64d 17/40 [58] Field of Search ...244/l48, 147; 206/80 A, 78 B,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,762,589 9/1956 Frieder et al. ..244/148 R26,493 12/1968 Stoker, Jr. ..206/8O A X 3,403,869 10/1968 Marchisen et al ..206/78 B X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 443,435 4/1927 Germany ..244/148 Primary ExaminerTrygve M. Blix Assistant Examiner-Carl A. Rutledge Att0rneyThomas I. Davenport, Edward M. Farrell, John B. Sowell, Alford L. Trueax, Jr. and William R. Nolte [57] ABSTRACT Vacuumized package includes a parachute with a main body. A connector extends from the inside to the outside of the package whilestill maintaining the vacuum therein. A strap from the parachute is connected to one end of the connector inside of the package while the other end includes means outside of the package adapted to be connected to a strap or harness to be worn by a pilot.

8 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJAuzslms 3.712.568

INVENTORS VITO NGRASSO BY MICHAEL S. FRANKEL ZMWM ATTORNEY VACUUMIZED CONTAINER FOR A PARACHUTE The invention herein described was made in the course of a contract with the Department ofNavy.

It is well known that the normal parachute may have to be stored for relatively long periods of time before actual use. During this time, suchparachutes are subjected to various environmentalconditions which tend to deteriorate the. materialsof' which the. parachute is made. For example, such things as moisture, oxygen and ultraviolet raysmay tend to cause the material of which the: parachute-is made to. deteriorate. In order to make sure that the-parachute is in good operation con.- dition, periodic inspections must bemade.

In addition to the disadvantages of deterioration of the parachute and the periodic inspections, most. parachutes have.v low packing densities. and tend to occupy a relatively large amountof space. The reason: for this is that the main body: of the parachute. is normally not compressed too greatly but is merely folded. Vacuum packaging: is well. known, especially in the food industry. In packagesin the food industry, flexible transparent. plastic are often used asthe package. Generally two plastic. pieces are used to form the package, with adhesive or heat sealing being used about their peripheries to join the two pieces. The. package may include-a number of layers of different materials to perform different functions.

While it has been desirable to employ vacuum packages for parachutes to provide a minimum amount of storage space for the parachute and toobtain allthe advantages of protection: mentioned. above, one problem has been toconnect: the parachutewithin the package to a device outside ofthe-package, without af fecting the seal of the vacuum package.

Also while multi-layer plastics have been used to make packages impermeable to moisture and oxygen, they have not been completely satisfactory. For example, a layerof aclar, mylar and. polyethylene has been used. In this case, the aclar formedtheoxygen barrier, the mylar providing strength: and thermoforming pro:- perties and thepolyethylene providing the vapor barrier and heat. sealing medium. However, it was found: that theme of mylar did not provide suitable therrnoforming properties necessary to form a good: vacuum package. for a parachute because of the thicknesses which would be required; I

.It is an object of this invention to provide an improvedpackage for a parachute in which the size of'the package isminimized.

It is a further object of this improved package-for a parachute" which is strongand thermoformable and in whiclrprovides protection from oxygen andmoisture.

It isa further object of this invention toprovidea novelmeans for permitting a-parachutewithin a vacuu mized package to be connected to an objectoutside of the package without affecting the. vacuum within the package.

In accordance with the present invention, a.vacuu-- mized package includes two main pieces in sealingrela tionship with eachoth'er whichisadapted' to receivera.

parachute therebetween. A- connectorextendsbetween: the two pieces:- of the package from-the parachute inside of the package tooutside-of the package: without destroying the vacuum. The connector includes means for connection-totheparachute inside of the package invention to provide an:

as well as means for connection to a strap or harness outside of the package. The pieces may comprise multilayersof plastic material to protect the parachute from adverse-environmental conditions.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent and suggest themselves to those skilled. in the art, from a reading of the following specification and claims, in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG; 1 illustrates a pair of connecting elements for connecting aparachute to a harness for apilot, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a package including a parachute, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3isa view taken along lines 3--3of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates the details-of a connector such as usedinthe present invention;

FIG. 5 isa cross-sectional view taken along lines 5 SofFIGA', and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectionview taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 1.

Referring particularly to FIG. 1, straps l0 and 11 on the main body of the parachute (not illustrated) are connected through a pair of connectors 12 and 14 to straps 16 and 18, respectively. Thestraps 16 and 18 may provide part of the harness which is attached to a pilot. FIG. I illustrates a general arrangement after the parachute has been deployed from a package during operation. FIGS. 2" and 3 illustrate the package for the parachute priorto its deployment.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a package 20 includes a top piece 22 and a bottom piece 24. The top and bottom pieces22 and 24 may be laminated pieces as will be described in connection with FIG. 6. A parachute 26 is disposed within the package 20. The piece 22 is secured to. the. piece 24 by means of heat sealing or other suitable means, such as adhesive.

Connectors 12 and 14 extend from the inside of the package 20' to outside of the package. The connectors may comprise. relatively flat elongated elements. Both connectors 12': and 14 are of the same and therefore only the details relating -to connector 12' will be described. The connector 12 may have a portion between its two ends which is taperedfrom a relatively thick center portion 30 to relatively thin sharp edges 32 and 34. The end portions of the connector 12 include relatively wide portions having sl'ot' openings 41 and 43 to receive buckles attached to straps. The ends of the connector 12 therefore provide means topermit the strap 10 of the parachute to be secured to one end and the strap l6to be connected to the other end.

The connector 12 is preferably, tapered to points alongtheedges-of itscentral portion soas to avoid any comers which would tend to cause leakage as a result of poor. sealing when the package is assembled. The contracting portions of the-pieces 22 and 24 are applied'aroundtheconnector12 by heat sealing or other suitable methods. While. the. connector 12 may take various different forms, it is preferable to have the edges. contacting thepieces 22 and 24 come to relativelysharp points. At the same time, the center portion should betrelatively thick to provide strength for the connector. Theconnector 12- is preferably.- made of metal, such as stainless steel or other type material.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 3 and 4, the strap 16 is shown disconnected from the connector 12 while the strap is shown connected to the connector 12. The strap 16 is overlapping and extends through an opening 45 in a buckle assembly 47. The buckle assembly 47 includes a main body having a hook portion 49 adapted to fit into the opening 41. After the portion 49 has been inserted into the end opening of the connector 12, a lock element 51, which may be spring loaded, extends forward to lock the buckle assembly 47 to the connector 12. A similar arrangement is used for connecting the strap 10 to the connector 12. The buckle assembly 53 is adapted to fit into the opening 43 and held in place.

Referring particularly to FIG. 6, an enlarged portion of a section of the piece 22 includes three layers of plastic material. The first layer 55 may be made of Nylon. Nylon has the properties of high strength'and is suitable for thermoforming. At the same time, the Nylon does not require excessive thickness and may be in the order of 0.005 inches thick. The second layer 57 may comprise Aclar which provides an excellent oxygen barrier and may also be in the order of 0.005 inches thick. The third layer 59 may be made of polyethylene which provides a moisture barrier and also a heat sealing medium. In assembling the piece 22 onto the piece 24, the two polyethylene portions are put together prior to the heat sealing treatment.

No claim is being made for the particular types of chemical material involved. Aclar is an Allied Chemical Corporation trademark for chlorotrifluouoethylene. This is a thermoplastic resin produced in varying formations from combinations of fluorine containing monomers and differs from the other members of the fluroplastics family in that its structure contains chlorine. The Nylon layer may be a film made from the polymer of E-caprolactam. The polyethylene layer provides an inert barrier and has high resistance to heat. All three layers are sufi'iciently thin to permit the parachute package to be readily evacuated to provide a compact package.

The present invention has provided a novel vacuumized package especially adapted to receive a parachute. in addition to providing means for connecting the parachute to the external harness of a pilot, the

laminated structure to protect the parachute over long periods of storage.

What is claimed is:

1. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two flexible pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebetween, .an elongated elepresent invention has provided a novel protective fastening devices.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said two flexible pieces each include three layers of different types of material.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein a first of said layers provides an oxygen barrier, the second of said layers provides a thermoformable material, and the third of said layers provides a vapor barrier and heat sealing medium.

5. The invention as set forth in claim 4 wherein the third layers of each of said two pieces are joined together.

6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first layer is approximately 0.005 inches thick, said second layer is approximately 0.005 inches thick, and said third layer is approximately 0.010 inches thick.

7. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebe tween, at least one of said pieces being flexible, anelongated element with two ends and a portion between said ends, said portion being tapered from the longitudinal center to relatively narrow edges along the sides of said elongated element, said elongated element being connected to said parachute and extending from within said storage area through said two pieces and in sealing engagement therewith to an area outside of said package, and said elongated element including means for attachment to a device outside of said package.

8. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebetween, at least one of said pieces being flexible, a connecting element with two ends and an intermediate portion between said ends, said connecting element being connected to said parachute and extending from within said storage area through said two pieces to an area outside of said package, said intermediate portion being in sealing engagement with said two pieces to maintain said storage area vacuumized, and .said connecting element including means for attachment to a device outside of said package. 

1. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two flexible pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebetween, an elongated element with two ends and a portion between said ends, said portion being tapered from the longitudinal center to relatively narrow edges along the sides of said elongated element, said elongated element being connected to said parachute and extending from within said storage area through said two flexible pieces and in sealing engagement therewith to a point outside of said package, and said elongated element including means for attachment to a device outside of said package.
 2. The invention as set forth in claim 1 wherein said ends of said element include slot openings for receiving fastening devices.
 3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 wherein said two flexible pieces each include three layers of different types of material.
 4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 wherein a first of said layers provides an oxygen barrier, the second of said layers provides a thermoformable material, and the third of said layers provides a vapor barrier and heat sealing medium.
 5. The invention as set forth in claim 4 wherein the third layers of each of said two pieces are joined together.
 6. The invention as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first layer is approximately 0.005 inches thick, said second layer is approximately 0.005 inches thick, and said third layer is approximately 0.010 inches thick.
 7. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebetween, at least one of said pieces being flexible, an elongated element with two ends and a portion between said ends, said portion being tapered from the longitudinal center to relatively narrow edges along the sides of said elongated element, said elongated elemenT being connected to said parachute and extending from within said storage area through said two pieces and in sealing engagement therewith to an area outside of said package, and said elongated element including means for attachment to a device outside of said package.
 8. A vacuumized package for a parachute comprising two pieces sealed together to provide a vacuumized storage area therebetween, at least one of said pieces being flexible, a connecting element with two ends and an intermediate portion between said ends, said connecting element being connected to said parachute and extending from within said storage area through said two pieces to an area outside of said package, said intermediate portion being in sealing engagement with said two pieces to maintain said storage area vacuumized, and said connecting element including means for attachment to a device outside of said package. 